The Sorbet

Someone has to say it
by Bob Kellett
04/15/2010

The 2010 Portland Timbers should win the league. The team returns all but one meaningful player from a record-setting squad. The team has added a bevy of young, talented players. The team has added some solid veteran leadership. The team has the most depth in the league, the most talent, and the greatest advantage when its plays at home. The team plays in a league that nearly imploded last season. The team has the best ownership and best management in the league.

The Portland Timbers should win the league. (continue)

We're Going To Win The Something, Something, Something
by Lucas Grzybowski
04/14/2010

The cherry blossoms are blossoming, the Blazers are limping bravely into the playoffs (injuries, schminjuries!), the weather changes every five minutes from rain to sun to rain again, and sidewalk seating is starting to appear at bars and cafes around town. Do you know what that means? Spring is springing in the Rose City. And do you know what THAT means?

Timbers season is upon us! (continue)

Hoop Dreams
by Dave Hoyt
04/13/2010
Here we are. Preparing to launch our last season in the 2^nd division. Standing at the end of an era of Timbers history before plunging into MLS. And I have to say… I’m absolutely reveling in it. I’ve always been a planner and a schemer. Sometimes I enjoy saving and planning for a vacation more than taking the trip itself. Even more often I enjoy the workouts, rumors and horse trading of the NFL and NBA drafts more than the seasons themselves. Now is where history hasn’t been written yet. This is when anything is possible. This is the season where the Timbers organization and the Timbers Army will begin to shape all that is possible into a new wave of the American soccer experience.

Where We’ve Been (continue)

The Young Guns
by Bob Kellett
04/10/2010

He's a 24-year-old defender who was a stellar soccer player in college in California. He had a brief cup of coffee in MLS and now finds himself with a second division club in Portland. He is Steve Purdy.

He is also Scot Thompson. (continue)

We go to exotic lands to conquer

by Bob Kellett
03/31/2010

Kitsap. The mere name evokes mysticism. Hardly, but nevertheless it is a nice enough place for the Portland Timbers to do a bit of training without the distraction of seeing anything interesting, eating anywhere good, or falling into a hole in left field at PGE Park. (continue)

Cha-Cha-Changes
by Bob Kellett
03/19/2010

Be thankful you are a Portland Timbers fan. Not only is your club growing, maturing, and winning, but it is leaving the mess of second division soccer and joining a first division league that will have its mess (hopefully) sorted out by next season. No reason to go into too much detail about the background second division workings since years from now historians will be looking at Dave's post as the definitive source of information, but it is interesting to think about what this turmoil may mean for the Timbers on the field.

First, there are a buttload (technical term) of new clubs for them to beat up on. (continue)

We're Going To Win The Everything
by Bob Kellett
03/12/2010

Heading into Thursday's exhibition match against the Seattle Sounders my biggest concern for the Portland Timbers was injury. I had this sinking fear that one or two of the players, who have only been training for a week and a half, would fall prey to the rivalry hype and try to do too much. It appears like there was victory on this front. (continue)

The Sorbet 03/03/2010
by Dave Hoyt

USL: What Happened?

What does it mean to be a second division soccer league? The textbook definition is obvious but trying to describe and contrast the gap between the divisions, from the quality of play to the visibility of the teams, is something else entirely. For countries with relegation and promotion, the proof is always determined by the success on the field and the intent to play at the highest possible level. In the USL, things are never quite as clear. No chance of movement and a league which is owned by investors instead of the teams themselves set up conflicting priorities and mixed signals. The league in which the Timbers have played for the last 9 seasons is known as much for its schizophrenia as anything else. (continue)

The Sorbet 02/27/10
by Bob Kellett

Here we go, here we go, here we go

A renovated stadium, a new league for the Portland Timbers, and grumblings about how it has all come about.

Switch a couple of numbers around and 2010 looks a lot like 2001. That was the year of the rebirth of professional soccer in the Rose City in a rebuilt stadium. It was an exciting time for sure, but it pales in comparison to what we are living through today. Our excitement is buoyed by what has transformed over the past decade (Good gravy, is this really the 10^th season of second division football in Portland?). We survived the always-present uncertainty that goes hand in hand with lower division soccer in the United States. We watched, or more accurately, took part in an organic movement of fandom that has been special and that has led us to where we are today. We hitched our horses to an owner who was a baseball guy first and who quickly was won over by both the reality and the promise of what soccer is in this city.